As soon as the end of the 17th century, Perrault and his female friends have conferred on terror a founding part in the new genre of the fairy tale. It is Addison who, in 1712, in The Spectator, relies upon these examples to conceive his aesthetics of « the pleasant horror ». Burke hardens his prospect in 1757 with the theory of « the sublime terror » which is epitomized in the tales of d’Aulnoy, of Villeneuve and of his French-speaking fellow countryman Beckford. This original inspiration, thus displayed in works and poetic reflections on either side of the Channel during a century, then nurtures the Romantic tale of fantasy, whereas Grimm and Andersen take hold of it to change its meaning and scope in a radical way.